The Thing About Home

Home is not a place—it’s a feeling.

Casey Black needs an escape. When her picture-perfect vow renewal ceremony ends in her being left at the altar, the former model turned social media influencer has new fame—the kind she never wanted. An embarrassing viral video has cost her millions of followers, and her seven-year marriage is over. With her personal and business lives in shambles, Casey runs from New York City to South Carolina’s Lowcountry hoping to find long-lost family. Family who can give her more answers about her past than her controlling mom-slash-manager has ever been willing to share.

What Casey doesn’t expect is a postcard-worthy property on a three-hundred-acre farm, history, culture, and a love of sweet tea. She spends her days caring for the land and her nights cooking much needed Southern comfort foods. She also meets Nigel, the handsome farm manager whose friendship has become everything she’s never had. And then there are the secrets her mother can no longer hide.

Through the pages of her great-grandmother’s journals, Casey discovers her roots run deeper than the Lowcountry soil. She learns that she has people. A home. A legacy to uphold. And a great new love story—if only she is brave enough to leave her old life behind.

Book club questions for The Thing About Home by Rhonda McKnight

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

Casey’s relationship with her mother is fraught with tension. What would be difficult about having Victoria as a mother? Do you think Casey was too hard on her?

Victoria’s history with the Black family was indeed complicated. How right or wrong was she at the time of Matthew’s death? Was she at all justified in keeping Casey away from them? She was estranged from many of her own relatives. Do you think she was selfish or a living example of a hurting person, hurting other people?

How might Casey’s life have been different if she grew up knowing her grandmother and the other members of the Black family? Do you/have you had someone like Granna in your life? How have they influenced you?

The theme of grief was present in many aspects of this story for all the characters. Casey’s mother said, “Sometimes we have to grieve the dead thing in the quiet of the night. When we lie on our beds, we can shed our tears because life doesn’t allow us to stop moving.” How has this thinking played out in your life and the lives of women you know? Do you consider it to be necessary or potentially unhealthy?

How did Casey’s experience with her family’s faith affect her? Do you believe it played a part in her emotional healing and the decisions she made in the final chapters of the book?

The freedom to do what we want as opposed to what others expect can be a hinderance to finding our true purpose, particularly for women. Discuss some of the examples of this in the book and share a personal story about how this thinking has benefited or harmed you.

There were several parallels between Casey’s life and Odessa’s. Discuss the similarities and differences. What are some things you can and should do that women before you could not? Have you fully actualized your advantages?

Do you think Odessa compromised too much for the men in her life—first for Elijah and then for her father? Do you think she’d make a different decision today?

I have no doubt Granna had been praying for a new wife for Nigel when her lovely, albeit wounded, granddaughter showed up in their lives. She did everything she could to push them together. Was this wisdom or overstepping?

I enjoy writing about emotionally intelligent men. Nigel was hard not to love, but Casey and Ava were wrong about what he wanted. Why do you suppose that was?

Casey and Nigel discuss the fact that neither of them learned very much about Black history in school. Did you learn anything from this story?

Casey ultimately got everything she wanted because she made the decision to choose a different life. Her mother advised her to pivot (be honest with her followers) the day after the video, advice she did not take, which ultimately led her to Georgetown. She eventually did pivot in many ways and was transparent with her followers. Why do you think she couldn’t do it initially?

The use of symbolism for home and farming were heavily used in the novel. What were some examples that resonated with you? How do you define home?

The Thing About Home Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the The Thing About Home discussion questions

“In this zippy outing from McKnight (All She Dreamed), a humiliated social media influencer rediscovers her roots . . . McKnight lays out some vivid low country history, and her fully realized characters—especially Casey and her sometimes superficial, sometimes serious trials—ring true.” —Publishers Weekly

“Rhonda McKnight has written a gorgeously vivid, heart-felt novel that stirred my emotions from the first page. I tried to slow down as I came closer to the last page because I didn’t want this book to end.” —Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling author of The Personal Librarian

“Expertly weaving a dual storyline of a rich matriarchal past with the tumultuous present, McKnight builds upon her women’s fiction repertoire with a fresh perspective on grief, forgiveness, and finding oneself in the midst of the storm.” —Vanessa Riley, award-winning author of Island Queen

“The Thing About Home is a beautifully written story about family, self-discovery, secrets, and forgiveness. It is a truly wonderful and most enjoyable read!” —Kimberla Lawson Roby, New York Times bestselling author

“… a captivating story, but also a lesson in life. A well-written exploration of love and acceptance.” —Jacquelin Thomas, award-winning author

“… a warm, atmospheric reminder that home is more than just a physical place—it’s family and friends and safety and unconditional love.” —Emily March, New York Times bestselling author

“You will get lost in this book. Every moment, every step that Casey takes to finding herself is magical. Rhonda McKnight is a masterful storyteller. Hands down, The Thing About Home is the best book I’ve read in a long time.” —Vanessa Miller, author of The Light on Halsey Street

“Rhonda McKnight has written the perfect southern story—warm, sweet, and full of hope. McKnight captures the heart and soul of Casey’s journey to self-discovery and love.” —Preslaysa Williams, author of A Lowcountry Bride

Family, history, heritage, and legacy all combine in the tightly woven warp and weft of love in The Thing About Home—a must read. —Piper Huguley, author of By Her Own Design